How To Cook Up A Great Meal

TIP! When not in use, put your spices in an area that receives the lowest amount of light and heat. When spices are exposed to light and heat, they lose their flavor and it reduces their storage life.

There are many different types of cooking and methods to achieve the end result of a great eating experience. Some cooking is hard and some is not. You will discover some suggestions to help you cook better, no matter what level you are on.

TIP! There’s a neat trick you can use to save your sauce. Take one tablespoon corn starch, and combine with two tablespoons water in a mixing bowl.

If you are working on creating more home-cooked meals, try the library for cookbooks that offer a variety of easy recipes that will be fun to prepare. Be patient, and try several recipes. Like any skill, cooking can take practice.

TIP! For crispier French fries, let raw potatoes stand for 30 minutes in a cold pot of water. The potatoes need to soak because the fibers will be reinforced through the cold fluids which in turn makes them fry better.

Bake pie crusts a little longer than you would think they should be baked. The color should be a darker caramel instead of the pale blond so many people do. The darker color results when the sugar from the crust has started to caramelize and will have a much sweeter and crisper flavor.

TIP! Fresh ingredients are much better to use in all of your cooking than those that are frozen or dried. Fresh ingredients are often inexpensive, and can help bring a lot of flavor out of your dish.

If you are going to use oil, make sure you add it at the edge of the pan so it can warm up before getting to the food. This ensures your food’s flavor is maximized when finished.

TIP! Mushrooms will soak up a large amount of water. A better option is to use a clean, damp cloth to hand-wipe each mushroom.

Freeze your meat slightly and you will find that it slices with ease. Asian inspired dishes such as Chinese and Thai will particularly benefit from this technique. When you slightly freeze the meat, the fibers don’t extend as easily, and therefore slicing is much cleaner. Make sure that you let the meat thaw before cooking, so the meat is cooked evenly.

Mashed Potatoes

To reduce the calories and fat of mashed potatoes, and to avoid sacrificing taste or texture, replace some potatoes with the same amount of cauliflower. Cauliflower’s neutral taste means that it blends easily with the flavor of the potatoes, butter and milk. Cauliflower has the same texture and color as mashed potatoes, so the dish will be transformed into one that has more vegetables and fewer calories.

TIP! It will be very helpful to have all cooking supplies nicely organized. If you refuse to organize your cooking supplies, you’ll take longer to find the utensils you need.

Do you enjoy flavoring your food with fresh basil? You can cut basil by the stems, bunch it together, and put it in a glass. The stems should be thoroughly covered in water. You can keep basil fresh for weeks on top of your kitchen counter this way. If you occasionally change the water, the basil will eventually grow its roots under water. Cut it on occasion and your plant will continue to provide you with fresh basil for a long time to come.

TIP! Many herbs and veggies make odors on your cutting board no matter how many times you clean it. You can mark your cutting boards with permanent marker to tell which one or which side is for each type of food.

Garlic is a wonderful taste, but not such a wonderful smell to have on your hands. After you have finished doing your prep work with the garlic, run your hands along the stainless steel interior of your sink. The steel will clean your hands and remove the smell. You can buy stainless steel “soaps” at your local kitchen store to keep on hand.

TIP! You should consider replacing your spices about twice a year. If a spice is kept for a long time, it could lose some of its flavor.

A great cooking tip to employ is to cook your vegetables in chicken broth. Chicken broth is great for preventing sticking of vegetables and incorporating some great flavor with them. Chicken broth is readily available at most grocery stores, and it is very affordably priced.

TIP! When you are cooking, a good habit to get into is to wash the dishes as soon as you are done with them. For a lot of people, the worst part of cooking is the cleaning up.

It is possible to over-think things in the kitchen. Meals can easily be ruined by making them too complicated. By sticking to a simple recipe, you can come up with something that is quick and healthy but still manages to taste wonderful. Heed the advice given here to create better meals with a finer understanding of the principles involved.